Did you find hard to believe that a mom would really inject her 8-year-old daughter with botox? Maybe you should've trusted your instincts. Kerry Campbell lied. In fact, her name isn't even Kerry Campbell.

From the start, Kerry Campbell's claim that she injected her daughter Brittany with Botox — and made sure the child got waxed — seemed a little suspicious, particularly because it appeared in the U.K. rag The Sun. We thought the whole thing might be hoax — until Kerry Campbell showed up on Good Morning America. A widely-watched, national television news(-ish) program! On a major network! The story must be true. Even the New York Timesreferenced the Botox Mom story as fact.

In the week since her GMA appearance, Campbell has lost custody of Brittany. Authorities are investigating Campbell for child abuse. But Monday, the San Francisco Chroniclenoted that its reporters weren't able to find anyone by the name of Kerry Campbell living in the area. San Francisco Human Services Director Trent Rhorer wouldn't give any details on the case because it involves a minor, but he did say, "we have completed our investigation, and we are no longer involved in the case." Did Kerry Campbell lie about living in San Francisco? Is her name Kerry Campbell?

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We know now that she lied about the Botox. Yesterday, Radar reported that a toxin-filled needle has never pricked Brittany's lovely little face. An insider said:

"Kerry is making the entire thing up for publicity. Kerry is obsessed with reality television, and wants to become famous. Child Protective Services are conducting an investigation about the Botox claims, and at this point, there is absolutely no evidence that Kerry injected Britney with Botox."

Today, TMZ reports that "Kerry Campbell" is actually a woman named Sheena Upton. Upton claims she was approached by the The Sun and asked "to play the role of Kerry Campbell" for a story called "I Give My 8-Year-Old Daughter Botox." (Do you think a large UK tabloid actually "approached" her? Or do you think she answered some kind of classified ad?)

TMZ adds:

After the story ran in The Sun, Upton says she was approached by "Good Morning America" and "Inside Edition" and claims she was offered "a large fee" to appear on camera. She went on both shows and re-told her story.

TMZ obtained a sworn declaration, in which Upton writes: "The truth is I have never given my daughter Botox, nor allowed her to get any type of waxing, nor is she a beauty pageant contestant." Upton created this signed document as part of her effort to regain custody of her daughter. She also took her daughter to UCLA Medical Center, where the child was given a full exam, the results of which indicated that she has never received Botox or other such injections.

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Of course, just because Upton never injected Botox into her daughter's face doesn't mean she isn't a problematic parental figure: She coerced her child to lie on national television. She coached her daughter to deceive the public as part of an elaborate ruse to satisfy her own delusional quest for fame. We can't even be sure what the girl's real name is: In some reports it's "Brittany" and in others, "Britany."

We know how we were tricked: In the age of "bikini bodies," toddlers wearing caked-on makeup, wigs and false teeth, we were all too willing to believe our country had hit rock bottom in the sick obsession with superficial beauty. Instead, we've hit rock bottom in the quest for the spotlight. It's sad what we'll do for just a moment of fame (and some cash). How did Good Morning America and ABC miss that?